The Silent Wound: How Corporal Punishment Betrays Ahimsa in Hindu Homes

In the mid-1990s, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, founder of Hinduism Today, received a disturbing revelation that would shake his vision of a harmonious spiritual community. Young Hindus from his international congregation confessed that their parents—devotees walking the spiritual path—were routinely using corporal punishment to discipline them. Slapping, spanking, and emotional battering had become normalized in homes where ahimsa, or nonviolence, was supposed to be a guiding principle.

The guru did not turn away. Instead, he devoted the July 1998 edition of Hinduism Today to exposing what he called a “devastating, global phenomenon.” Julie Rajan, the feature’s primary author, wrote: “Young Hindu adults today feel deep resentment and anger at having been beaten as children. We struggle with feelings of low self-esteem and failure.” She noted that many parents genuinely loved their children but were trapped in a cycle of violence passed down through generations.

Subramuniyaswami’s quest for a cruelty-free system of raising children was not merely a reform—it was a return to dharma. For a faith that reveres ahimsa as the highest virtue, the question remains: Can we truly call ourselves nonviolent if our own homes are built on fear and pain?